Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, May 27, 1998

1998-05-27 04:00:00 PDT FOSTER CITY -- Two Foster City teenagers are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon on charges that they tried to kill a high school student with a baseball bat.

The 14-year-old Hillsdale High School student was in critical condition yesterday at an undisclosed hospital.

Although badly hurt from a blow to the head, the boy was improving, said Foster City police Lieutenant Craig Courtin.

The 14-year-old and the 15-year- old accused in the case face charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury, said San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Eddie Thomas.

Police say the attack took place Sunday about 8 p.m. in a small shopping center in the 1000 block of Foster City Boulevard. Apparently, the two had been fighting with the victim over a disparaging comment he allegedly made earlier against one of the defendant's younger sisters, Courtin said.

"I can't say whether they had planned the beating," said Courtin. The boys had been carrying the bat at the time they met up with the victim at the Marlin Cove shopping center, he said. "But this was not a random act of violence."

The boy received a single blow from the bat. It was not clear which youth is accused of swinging the bat.

A group of juveniles and adult shoppers witnessed some portion of the attack, according to Courtin. Several of the witnesses aided officials in caring for the youth, who was semiconscious after the beating, he said.

Investigators apprehended the 14-year-old after investigators spotted his bike near an apartment on Catamaran Street.

A few hours later, they took the 15-year-old into custody.

"This type of thing doesn't happen in Foster City," Courtin said. "It's very uncommon to see this type of violence among juveniles."